What I Learned This Week - 12/28/12

1.  After 16 years of marriage my wife and I still enjoy long romantic walks to the freezer to check for ice cream.
2. People with certain levels of color blindness can spot camouflaged people. An effort was made in WW2 to develop a specialty ops team for this purpose. Infra-red vision changed this development.
3. The human eye can actually differentiate over 500 shades of grey - making the sequel book even that much more creepy.
4. Whenever someone mentions 12/21/12 as being the end of the world, I now hear in my head the voice of Jeffery Albertson (aka Simpson's Comic Book guy) stating, "Worst. Apocalypse. Ever".
5. To those people that e-mailed just before midnight on the day of the 'apocalypse', "Just in case....Goodbye" - I love you.
6. Instead of thinking the world didn't understand Mayan culture and/or the Mayan calendar, I like to think that an unidentified superhero saved the planet. 
7. My jaw dropped discovering the quality of free computer video games - Planetside 2 and Star Wars the Old Republic are better than the majority of games you pay for.
8. There is one thing that will make my grumpy, old, tired, 16 year old Springer come to life with the energy of a puppy for a full ten minutes, and that one thing is called "Squirrel".
9. Of the many many things that bring my family to tears (laughter or sadness), one I had forgot was watching old family movies. It's amazing to see the sparkle in your kid's eyes as they watch themselves and loved ones of the past with the same joy as you.
10. Unexpected heart-wrenching moment - watching your old dog react to the howls in a home movie of her long canine friend that passed over two years ago. Gillie paced the house for an hour - I'm convinced she was looking for Abby.
11. I found a store that sells used sporting goods of the sports my family actually participates in....and my wife hasn't taken away the credit card yet. Is it wrong that after a week, they already know me by name?
12. A week home with my kids is just enough time to develop an inside joke with each of them.
13. My kids pointed out that the phrase, "That's nice, honey" is the old people's version of, "Cool story, bro". At this pace they'll figure out what, "bless their hearts" means by the end of the week.
14. My kids have learned to ignore my excited shouts of, "Look!! Free unassembled snowmen!" when it starts to snow.
15. I have a vacation morning conundrum, at 5:30am I am usually too awake to fall back asleep and too sleepy to get up and do stuff. My old dog usually solves the problem at 5:45 am.
16. I think that smart cars should only be allowed to have the paint schemes of the Little Tikes Cozy Coupes - complete with eyes and smiley face.
17. Nothing will make a woman look at me more fearful than when she asks me a question at a grocery store, and regardless of the question I reply, "I'm sorry, I'm married."
18. I love being home on vacation.